Don't binge at home before going out, say medics

Ambulance chiefs pleaded with Londoners today to "stop freeloading" and drink less.

They issued a stern warning to revellers not to binge on alcohol before heading out for the night.

And paramedics told how the capital's drinkers are using ambulances as free taxis. They spoke as the Evening Standard joined staff on the "booze bus" which travels London treating casualties of excess drinking during the Christmas season.

Well-paid professionals comprised many of those on the bus and in the Alcohol Recovery Centre in Soho.

Jason Killens, deputy director of operations at London Ambulance Service, said: "We're an emergency service and someone who's freeloaded with alcohol and is worse for wear isn't an emergency. We are finding people are drinking more and for longer. They are consuming alcohol before they go out then topping it up."

Last night was the busiest on record for the Soho clinic. Opening for the Christmas period, it was at full capacity. Crews are bracing themselves for a another record tonight as thousands of Londoners head for office parties. They are anticipating more calls than last year, which reached 500 in one hour.

An estimated four out in five alcohol-related emergency calls made to LAS this month have been from professionals who have been at their office party, according to paramedics.

Brian Hayes, who set up the booze bus in 2005, warned people who drink to excess are putting at risk the lives of others with serious health conditions.

"We're not a taxi service," he said. "People think that's our role - but it's not. Our role is to ease pressure on the ambulance service. It's very important that drinkers remember other people are suffering serious, life-threatening conditions, and they could be taking vital resources away from them as we are tightly stretched."

He said the recession had triggered a worrying increase in people starting by drinking at home or in the office to save money. They are already drunk before they reach the bar or party venue.

"Londoners need to prioritise drinking responsibly," he said. "They need to avoid cheap deals in supermarkets and bars and consume less before they leave for a night out. They are often too drunk before they even reach the bar or nightclub.

"They are not measuring how much they drink and we will find them asleep in the gutter or at bus stops. This didn't happen so much when they had more in the bank. They are often covered in vomit and their own faeces."

Mr Hayes added that it was not just young people who were to blame: "Surprisingly, a great number are middle-aged. We get a lot of professionals. Last night our first three patients were over 50. Most others were over 35."

He also called on women to take more care: "Girls forget they are smaller than men so can't handle their alcohol as well. Unfortunately that is our society today, women feel pressure to drink as much as men.

'There are also predators who will seize on them when they are collapsed drunk in a doorway."

There were 70,000 alcohol-related calls to LAS last year, compared with 60,000 in 2009.